WORLD IN BRIEF | January 2, 2013

Published January 2, 2013 - 10:47pm Last Updated January 2, 2013 - 11:39pm

Father of shot activist given post in U.K.

LONDON (AP) — The father of a teenage Pakistani activist shot in the head by Taliban for advocating girls’ education has been given a diplomatic post in the U.K.

Malala Yousufzai has been recovering at a hospital in Birmingham, England, after she was shot in October in Pakistan. The Taliban have vowed to target her again.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, confirmed a BBC report Wednesday saying that Malala’s father, Ziauddin, has been appointed Pakistan’s education attache in Birmingham.

The position — with an initial three-year commitment — virtually guarantees Malala will remain in the U.K.

Boys, woman with baby among drug suspects

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican marines say they have detained an unlikely band of drug traffickers that includes 12 boys and a woman with a baby who possessed rifles, grenade launchers and drugs.

A navy statement issued Wednesday says the 18 people were caught on New Year’s Eve in the town of La Estacion in the northern state of Zacatecas. It alleges they were carrying nine rifles, two pistols, two grenade launchers and packets of marijuana and cocaine.

The navy says the only woman in the group was carrying a baby girl. It doesn’t say what authorities did with the baby.

Twelve of the 17 male suspects are said to be minors. Drug cartels often hire youths to work for them and many have been arrested since the government launched its offensive against traffickers.

Identical twins give birth two hours apart

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Aiden and Donavyn Nelson were born about two hours apart on New Year’s Eve to mothers who are identical twins.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the 19-year-old mothers — Aimee and Ashlee Nelson weren’t raised to do things alike and did not plan the births to come at the same time. In fact, their due dates were about a week apart.

But Donavyn Scott Bratten was born just after noon on the last day of 2012. Aiden Lee Alan Dilts made his appearance at about 2 p.m.

They were delivered by the same doctor at Summa Akron City Hospital.

Paraguay police rescue 211 Amazon parrots

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Police have rescued 211 protected parrots taken from the remote forests of Paraguay, and made four arrests.

Veterinarian Carlos Britos of Paraguay’s environmental ministry identified the rescued birds as Blue-fronted Amazon parrots, whose scientific name is Amazona aestiva. He says many are still juveniles and were taken from their nests. He said Wednesday that they are being cared for by government biologists in a national park, and will be returned to the wild once they can fly.

Blue-fronted Amazons are among the parrots most commonly kept as house pets.

Israel to send thousands of Africans home

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister says thousands of Africans who have infiltrated into Israel will be sent back home.

Benjamin Netanyahu declared Wednesday that Israel has halted the flow of African migrants into Israel over the past seven months. He spoke while visiting the fence Israel built on border with Egypt to keep migrants out.

He said he will soon begin “repatriating the tens of thousands of infiltrators in Israel to their countries of origin.”

About 60,000 Africans have entered Israel in recent years, some seeking asylum and others looking for work.